I have a project for my Sociology paper in which I need to take a poll. For those of you who are willing, would you please indicate in the poll how far you went in school? I am trying to see if this correlates with appreciation of classical music.

I don't know if this has any sociological interest; HOWEVER, I started out at Whitman, transferred to SFSU where I got the Bachelors and the Masters, then went to Old Blue for the Ph.D. in music theory and performance. Took early retirement from The Office and went back to school for what they now call the "Second Baccalaureate." The crux of all this is, about 10--15% of the students at my school (population about 28,000) are my age...go figure...

Auntie Lynn wrote:I don't know if this has any sociological interest; HOWEVER, I started out at Whitman, transferred to SFSU where I got the Bachelors and the Masters, then went to Old Blue for the Ph.D. in music theory and performance. Took early retirement from The Office and went back to school for what they now call the "Second Baccalaureate." The crux of all this is, about 10--15% of the students at my school (population about 28,000) are my age...go figure...

Auntie Lynn wrote:I don't know if this has any sociological interest; HOWEVER, I started out at Whitman, transferred to SFSU where I got the Bachelors and the Masters, then went to Old Blue for the Ph.D. in music theory and performance. Took early retirement from The Office and went back to school for what they now call the "Second Baccalaureate." The crux of all this is, about 10--15% of the students at my school (population about 28,000) are my age...go figure...

All best...

Auntie

Puleez - just check the box.

*****

WELCOME BACK!!!!! I've really missed you, kid!

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

I really appreciate everyone who has taken the poll so far! Of course the poll isn't closed yet, so eventually I may get more votes on this sociological subject.

And I'm actually thanking you all sincerily without my mother standing over me saying, "You better tell them thank you!"

No nagging to be had in my direction!

thanks,
Zell

Your mom may have mentioned that we don't get quite the traffic here in the Pub that we do in the music room (uncomfortable asbestos underwear is needed for the Pub). So I'll mosey over to the music room and see if I can roust any of those Sybarites to come over and answer your question.

Auntie Lynn wrote:I don't know if this has any sociological interest; HOWEVER, I started out at Whitman, transferred to SFSU where I got the Bachelors and the Masters, then went to Old Blue for the Ph.D. in music theory and performance. Took early retirement from The Office and went back to school for what they now call the "Second Baccalaureate." The crux of all this is, about 10--15% of the students at my school (population about 28,000) are my age...go figure...

Auntie Lynn wrote:I don't know if this has any sociological interest; HOWEVER, I started out at Whitman, transferred to SFSU where I got the Bachelors and the Masters, then went to Old Blue for the Ph.D. in music theory and performance. Took early retirement from The Office and went back to school for what they now call the "Second Baccalaureate." The crux of all this is, about 10--15% of the students at my school (population about 28,000) are my age...go figure...

All best...

Auntie

What's "Old Blue?"

*****

Yale.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

Geez, I didn't expect these results at all! Since the results of this poll are so lopsided, it would be interesting to divide the 4th option into subcategories. Some people here kept on going and going and going ...

Zell--it was thoughtful of you to thank us for participating. I'm wondering what you are using for a control? Are you posting similar polls on other sites?

"Most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives." ~Leo Tolstoy

"It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character." ~Dale Turner

"Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either." ~Albert Einstein
"Truth is incontrovertible; malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it; but, in the end, there it is." ~Winston Churchill

Auntie Lynn wrote:I don't know if this has any sociological interest; HOWEVER, I started out at Whitman, transferred to SFSU where I got the Bachelors and the Masters, then went to Old Blue for the Ph.D. in music theory and performance. Took early retirement from The Office and went back to school for what they now call the "Second Baccalaureate." The crux of all this is, about 10--15% of the students at my school (population about 28,000) are my age...go figure...

All best...

Auntie

What's "Old Blue?"

It is Yale, and now we have an issue.

BTW, for Zell, I did vote (I'm in, ahem, the majority) and I hope you have success with your project.

There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach

Ralph wrote:Now an interesting topic would be to correlate the extent of higher education with a love of Dittersdorf.

Now i see why i don't have a lot of Dittersdorf records in my collection, i left university too soon! I got one degree, that is probably why i usually like Dittersdorf when i come across his music. If i had contiued a couple of years more perhaps i would have been a true fan.

This is perhaps more than a joke. I studied in Bergen which is a less narrow-minded city than what is usual in Norway. Music-lovers in that city are often interested in alternative music in all genres.

mellowfall wrote:Hello,Corylyss_D.
I voted before I wrote the greeting.
Best wishes to everyone.

Most excellent! Thank you, on Zell's behalf.

Wanna tell us a little about yourself? What's the classical music scene in Karachi like? I think you may be our first member from Pakistan. We have a few from Southeast Asia, and one Iranian expat living in Canada.

I agree with Alban's suggestion on the first 3 to be added, except that at the master's level, its a thesis, not a dissertation. After that--

Masters, some work toward doctorate.
Doctorate, except for dissertation.
Doctorate.

You might choose to di a breakout the doctorate into what kind--
PhD
MD
Other.

Many also happen to feel that, somehow, a love of classical music is inherited, not genetically, usually, but as part of one's general class ambience. Toward this end, you might ask questions about the responder's family background.

As for me, neither of my parents went beyond high school. My mother had several jobs at various times in her life as a light factory worker, a saleswoman in a womens clothing store, an assistant buyer in a toy department at a hardware store, and as a supermarket checker. My father was a firefighter. My mother loved opera, but was not particularly interested in other classical music. My father seems to have had no musical interests at all that I could detect.

I have a BS in Ed from Northwest Missouri State University with a major in history.

Don't drink and drive. You might spill it.--J. Eugene Baker, aka my late father
"We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."--Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. Carolina."Racism is America's Original Sin."--Francis Cardinal George, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago.

Teresa here. Thanks to you all! Reblem, that's a good idea from you and Alban, considering the predictably lopsided poll results.

Zell's paper is relatively basic (freshman Sociology course). His instructions were to construct the hypothesis, then take the "independent " variable and the "dependent" one, and proceed to write a short paper forming his conclusion based on the data he collected. He has to support his research with a couple of published studies.

So I didn't suggest to him to break the college degree category into subsets due to the increased complexity of the results (maybe he should have gone with bachelor's and proceeded forward!). In any case, he has the material he needs, and many thanks again especially to Corlyss for the "Sticky" and all who assisted.

The kind of British secondary modern school I attended can be summed up by the expletive for "Go forth and multiply" that some enterprising individual had etched into the school name board which greeted pupils, teachers and visitors alike. It was not a pleasant experience.

"Look here, I have given up my time, my work, my friends and my career to come here and learn from you, and I am not going to write a petit menuet dans le style de Mozart." - Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maurice Ravel

Lark Ascending wrote:The kind of British secondary modern school I attended can be summed up by the expletive for "Go forth and multiply" that some enterprising individual had etched into the school name board which greeted pupils, teachers and visitors alike. It was not a pleasant experience.

That is three people now who have rather demeaned the British system of general education. Refreshing, being a teacher in a system at least equally deserving of criticism.

Somehow or other we manage to muddle on as two great peoples divided by a common language in spite of all these deficiencies in educating our youth, but of course such an observation is not quite to the point. There are enormous problems. But that would be a new thread, wouldn't it? So I'll stop here.

There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach

jbuck919 wrote: Somehow or other we manage to muddle on as two great peoples divided by a common language in spite of all these deficiencies in educating our youth

You know, sometimes in the wee small hours of the morning, I wonder if education beyond the 3 Rs isn't really irrelevant. People learn to do the right thing mostly from the culture which continues to surround them as long as they live in it. I wish people were better trained in history and civics and critical thinking, but would it really change anything? I rant about communist anti-Semites and anti-Americans in academia and their perverse effects, but I think a lot of students forget what the heard in college if it isn't directly related to their jobs anyway. Like Philip Henslowe says, "I don't know. It's a mystery."